MORE than 400 businesses have been closed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).
Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves on Wednesday said 420 businesses were shutdown leaving some 2,754 persons from varying economic sectors without an income between March and December 2020, iWitnessNews reported.
He attributed the data to the National Insurance Services in response to a question asked in the Lower House from Member of Parliament for East Kingstown Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble.
Gonsalves said that the government has put in place several measures to assist those who lost their jobs as well as those who have been working on a decreased income.
He said, “There are other employees who have not been laid off but put on reduced time schedules, particularly in the hospitality sector, reduced hours and the like, they are also receiving compensation through various income support measures.
“But, in terms of the subset that the honourable member asked for, it’s 420 businesses. But more businesses than that have been affected in terms of limited hours and limited staff and the like, but the question was about closure,” Gonsalves said to the Parliament.
